How to choose the correct colour temperature

Have you ever heard anybody say “this room feels lovely and warm”, or “this room feels so nice and cool”? We thought so.

The mood and whole feel of a room depends upon the mood that you want to create. A huge part to play in the process of you “feel” when you walk in to a room is the lighting! You must consider the colour temperature.
You have to consider a few important factors with colour temperature:

1. What is the function of the room? (Homely or to work? To focus or to relax?)

2. How do you want to feel, and want others to feel, when you enter that room?

3. What do you want to create?

For example, according to Feng Shui principles and many Interior Designer’s it is important to make your bedroom feel like somewhere you want to sleep. You make it warm, yet dark. You choose warm candlelight colours with soft glowing undertones of lights so that you feel safe, cared for and gently comforted by the room… Almost, “sunset” colours. It is important to have a soft ceiling light, preferably central with accompanying bedside table lamps that can offer extra light to read. You may find the lights slightly orange/yellow, like a actual candle flame.

You may also take similar colour temperatures with the lights in to a room of the house like the lounge or cinema room. You want it to feel comfortable and welcoming, you want to relax and sink in to comfort.

In a commercial environment, you would also use similar tones and temperatures in an evening bar or, even a spa room- somewhere dimly lit with a chilled out environment and faint music.

On the contrary, if you need to create a functional space then it is important to have light so you can sufficiently see what you are doing! Our bodies and minds naturally relate dimmed, warm light to relaxing and eventually, going to sleep. Therefore, bright white lights have the opposite effect! If you need to create a space to be focused, centered and FEEL awake then you need to do so with the lighting of the space. If left to our natural rhythms, we would indeed wake up with the sunshine! So, from this we know that creating a bright light, as if direct sunlight, we are going to feel awake. Kitchens, toilets and offices are all functional spaces that require light. So use the correct colour temperature to make sure you create the right environment!

As LED lighting technology advances way beyond incandescent, you can now buy colour temperature adjustable lighting. This gives you the choice of changing the colour temperature from warm white to cool white whenever you like. The JCC V50 for example has these features.